Free Press sports writer Anthony Fenech breaks down the Detroit Tigers’ 4-3 win over Blue Jays in 11 innings. Anthony Fenech, Detroit Free Press
TORONTO — After two days and 24 innings, the long, local nightmare ended: The Detroit Tigers scored.
With two outs in the top of the seventh inning on Sunday afternoon, Jordy Mercer watched a pitch sail inside, flipped his bat toward the Tigers dugout and trotted to first base. It didn’t matter that it took a bases-loaded walk to get the job done – the Tigers’ lengthy scoreless streak had been snapped.
“I don’t know if it was a relief,” manager Ron Gardenhire said, “It was just the anxiety of trying to score a run and then we score a run and everybody was pumped up, you know, and then we added a couple more with some big hits.